TOTEM POLES BAEBEAU 565 



natives gave up building large communal lodges in the purely native 

 manner, and memorial columns that could no longer serve as cere- 

 monial doorways, or traps, became the new fashion. Some of the 

 upper Skeena villages, indeed, never adopted the fashion wholesale; 

 at least four of them boasted of no more than a few poles, and part 

 of these were put up only after 1890. 



Internal evidence tells the same tale. The technique of carving 

 on several of the oldest poles on the upper Skeena discloses anterior 

 stages in the art. It is essentially the technique of making masks or 

 of carving small detached objects ; or, again, of representing masked 

 and costumed performers as they appeared in festivals rather than 

 the real animals or objects as they exist in nature. These early 

 Skeena River carvers had not yet acquired the skill of their Nass 

 River masters, who had advanced to the point of thinking of a large 

 pole as an architectural unit that called for harmony of decorative 

 treatment. 



Haesem-hliyawn and Hlamee, of Gitwinlkul, represent distinctive 

 periods of the craft among the Gitksan. To Haesem-hliyawn goes 

 the credit of carving some of the best poles in existence. He lived as 

 late as 1868, while Hlamee, his junior and follower, died after 1900. 



The style of Haesem-hliyawn was of the finest, in the purely 

 native vein. He combined a keen sense of realism with a fondness 

 for decorative treatment. His art sought inspiration in nature, 

 while maintaining itself within the frontiers of ancient stylistic 

 technique, Haesem-hliyawn belonged to the generation wherein the 

 totem pole art was still in its growth (1840-1880) and all at once 

 reached its apogee. His handling of human figures counts among 

 the outstanding achievements of west coast art — indeed, of aborig- 

 inal art in any part of the world. The faces he carved, with their 

 pronounced expression and amusing contortions, are characteristic 

 of the race. 



Hlamee, a prolific worker, introduced the white man's paint to 

 enhance the features of his carvings. While he used paint with 

 discretion and to good effect, it immediately lessened the sculptural 

 quality of the work. The new fashion did not compensate for the 

 evident loss of native inspiration and artistry. 



The carved poles of the Nass maintain a much higher average 

 standard of art than those of the Skeena; but they are less numerous, 

 for the reason that the Nass people gave up their ancient customs 

 much earlier than the Kitksan — that is 40 or 50 years ago. The 

 technique of pole carving in both areas represents well the passage 

 from the earlier and better art of the Haesem-hliyawn type to that 

 of Hlamee. 



The Tsimsyan of the lower Skeena, on the other hand, never were 

 devoted to the art of carving totem poles. Wlien they were moved 



